Blood Only Glows in the Dark Chapter 45: 45, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Muwahahahahaha...and ya'll thought I wasn't gonna update 'till after new years!

Granted, that might be because I said as much, but...we can't go forward if we keep regretting the past!

Actually, my brain hurts from pumping this out. So, now this is the official New Year's Break Chapter of this Story. Ciao!

PS...this next chapter is only weird like that by accident. I have car fatigue from driving 18 hours yesterday...oi...

Disclaimer: You obviously can read, since if you can't...hey, why am I writing this if you can't read! For those of you who CAN read...check the last chapter

The HellPit was just as Yami remembered it: very cold, very dark, and full of absolutely nothing. Whatever else had been sucked inside was nowhere in arms reach, and it wasn't like Yami could look around at all - the HellPit was completely lightless.

Of course, a stupid part of the mage-demon's mind pointed out, 'HellPit' was Yami's own personal name for this torturous dimension. It might have had some other, proper name, but the nickname described it just fine. It wasn't like Yami hadn't had plenty of time to come up with it, after all…

Yami choked down a noise that was something like a cross between a whimper and a gurgle, the idea of spending another five thousand years - oh gods, or more! - in this place filling him with deep, dark dread. The HellPit granted a perverse form of immortality - that was why it the platforms for opening it had been made in the first place - by preventing anyone inside it from aging or needing food and water.

There was a catch, of course - once you were inside, you couldn't get back out unless someone summoned you. Seto - bastard, bastard! - had claimed that he was going to use this - back during the first time, when he had taken great relish in explaining it - because it would have dishonored the priesthood for any of the so-called 'untainted' blood remaining in Yami's veins to be spilled, including through death in any way. Leaving Yami alone inside a freezing and lightless void for the rest of eternity was supposed to be better.

…And now he was back…the fates were insane, Yami just knew it. The mage-demon was back to full power, but what was the point?

Last time, he'd spent the first couple of hundred years trying to find a way out, ANY way out, but failed. The rest of the time, Yami had sunk into a sort of stupor, occasionally rousing long enough for maybe a year's worth of frenzied breakout attempts, every five hundred years or so…Yami had a fairly good sense for time, even inside such a place as the HellPit…

…Maybe it was an aftereffect of the seal or something, but Yami thought there might be something different going on this time. Something felt different…Yami raised his right hand and inspected the injured wrist. It looked…

…But…wait…how could he possibly SEE?

Yami twisted around - he, like everything else, floated inside the HellPit, since there was no ground or direction - and gaped like a fish tossed onto the bank of the river.

Completely unnoticed behind him until this very moment, a very confused Yugi was trying to figure out which direction was up. Failing that, he started trying to swim, but was unable to move anywhere…then the boy looked up, realizing he was being watched, and spotted Yami staring at him.

"Um…" Yugi looked embarrassed, "Uh…sorry, I guess. Not much of a rescue, huh?"

Yami was very shocked that Yugi was now, like himself, one of the Hellpit's eternal victims, but even that was being crushed under the weight of Yami's sheer stupefaction. This was for one simple reason:

"…You're…glowing…" Yami blinked, unable to process it.

Yugi blinked, looked at himself properly, and yelped. Apparently, he hadn't noticed, but now every exposed piece of skin on Yugi's body was glowing like a bright white bonfire had been lit inside of his body. Not that much of it was exposed, but as far as Yami's demonic vision was concerned, Yugi was a sun in this pitch-black place.

"Wow…" Yugi said, examining his hands carefully for some kind of explanation, rolling up his sleeves a little to see that, yes, his whole body was emitting light, "How did THAT happen, do you think?"

"No idea," Yami said, still staring.

Apparently not as fascinated, Yugi left off looking at himself and began renewing his attempts to move around. He and Yami were separated by a few feet of empty space, but since Yugi couldn't make an inch of headway, it might as well have been a canyon.

"Can you stretch out? Maybe you can pull me over or something," Yugi asked, his tone clearly showing worry at Yami's weird stillness.

Shaking his head roughly - wasn't there going to be plenty of time to think about this later? - Yami tried stretching out a hand, but they were still too far apart. Maybe he should stick out a foot, Yami's legs were a little longer than his arms - but his legs were still tied with rope, unnoticed.

Getting an idea, Yami awkwardly untied himself, trying hard not to rip the rope apart. Untied, it was over twice as long as was needed. It was almost amusing, reeling Yugi in. The boy certainly seemed to find it amusing, but as soon as they were in arms reach of each other, Yugi insisted they tie their wrists together with the rope, so that they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally drifting away from each other in the future.

That reminded Yami of their current predicament, and Yugi noticed the mage-demon's depressed expression as soon as it was visible.

"Don't look so down," Yugi said, "I mean, if there's a way into this place, then there's got to be a way out! Right?"

"…If there is," Yami said flatly, not meeting Yugi's eyes, "I haven't found it. And I had plenty of time to look the last time I was sealed here."

"You were trapped in here before?"

If Yami had looked at Yugi, he would have seen that the mortal boy was watching him with a mixture of sorrow and pity, something that would have disgusted him on any other face at any other time. But Yami was remembering his last time in the HellPit, and figured talking was the only thing you could do, if you were lucky enough to be stuck here with someone else.

"Until a few months ago," Yami admitted, "I had been in here for about five thousand years."

"What!" Yugi exclaimed, "I mean - how? You don't look more than a year or two older than I am."

Yami almost felt amused as he replied, "In this place, time freezes. As long as you are here, you will not age a day until you leave."

"That's not the only thing freezing," Yugi shivered, rubbing his arms for warmth, "I know refrigerators preserve stuff by being cold, but this is ridiculous! Aren't you cold, Yami?"

Yami thought about this for a moment. He'd stop thinking about it a long time ago, but yes, actually…this might be only a little frosty for Yugi's home's climate, but it had always been bitterly cold for someone from Yami's.

"You get used to it," Yami said evasively.

The way he and Yugi were oriented now, Yami was in a sort of 'sitting' position, his legs horizontal and bent, while Yugi was sort of 'standing'. With a sharp, "Well, even if you're not, I am," Yugi attempted to sit on Yami's legs.

As the annoyed human found himself floating off in seconds, Yami blinked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm cold," Yugi said, speaking with a perfectly straight face, "And you're going to share some body heat with me."

Realizing how that might have sounded, Yugi blushed and added, "Err…if its okay, I mean…"

While Yami tried to process this, Yugi tried sitting down again, with identical results. After the third failed attempt, Yami thought he was about to suggest they stay as close to each other as possible. His arm, however, had other plans, and it summarily hooked itself around Yugi, pulling the boy over and holding him in place so he didn't float back to the end of their rope tether.

If there had been gravity, Yugi would have been officially sitting on Yami's lap. However, this was the next best thing, and Yami could feel heat in his face - but that was because he was blushing brightly. Yugi was blushing too.

'…It's like holding a cat,' Yami told himself, 'Think of a cat! A warm, furry cat…with really nice smelling hair - not again!'

"Well…" Yugi hesitated, "This is a way to do this, I guess…you're okay with this, Yami?"

"…If its okay with you, it is with me," Yami voiced, not meeting Yugi's gaze exactly.

For a couple of minutes, there was an awkward silence. This position was very comfortable, and after a bit, Yugi decided they needed some kind of distraction.

"So…" began the boy.

"…What is it?" Yami asked, curiosity rising a little when Yugi trailed off.

Yugi turned his head so that he could see Yami's face and, chewing his lip for a second, blurted out, "We heard - I mean - from the corner, when he was…um…"

Gathering his thoughts as quickly as he could, Yugi finally put his thought into words.

"How did it happen, Yami?"

Yami blinked.

"…Can you be a little more specific?"

Yugi swallowed.

"That guy - the one with the knife, that you called Seto…"

"What about him?" Yami asked, his voice flat once more.

"He said…that…you weren't originally…"

His discomfort fighting tooth and nail with his curiosity, Yugi made an inarticulate gesture. But Yami knew what he was asking.

"I thought I heard someone else in the room," Yami remarked, his voice calm enough to surprise even himself, "So, you know that I used to be…"

What word should he use? Human? Normal?

"You said before, that you used to look more like me than you do now," Yugi said, "That was before you became a demon, wasn't it?"

"…It was."

"…So, how did it happen?"

Yami thought about brushing Yugi off - metaphorically and literally - but the thought only lasted a split-second. He'd kept it hidden long enough. Yami cleared his throat.

"Well…I guess it first began a long time ago, when I was very young…"